New Solar Power Deal for Los Angeles

The city of Los Angeles took a big step forward in its commitment to solar power with the recent approval of two new agreements that will bring enough clean energy to power almost 200,000 homes.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has entered into a 25-year contract with K Road Moapa Solar, located on tribal land in Nevada owned by the Moapa Band of Paiute Indians. The deal calls for up to 250 megawatts of power, which could serve roughly 118,000 homes. The department will get another 210 megawatts of power from the Copper Mountain Solar 3 project, also in Nevada, which could power about 75,000 residential units. Both of these agreements call for solar power to be delivered to customers in Los Angeles by the end of 2015. The Department of Water and Power is also developing a 250-megawatt solar power site in Kern County, and has in place a City Solar Feed-in-Tariff Program, in which the department purchases solar power developed on customers’ properties. Combined with the two new solar agreements, the city can eventually provide power to about 331,000 homes, and eliminate about 1.1 million metric tons of carbon emissions each year. The city plans to have 25% of its power come from renewable sources by 2016, and increasing to 33% by the end of the decade.

"This is a defining moment for our city’s economic and environmental future,” said Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa in a news release. “Not only will these commitments create hundreds of green jobs, they will further bolster Los Angeles as a national leader in making the successful, cost-efficient transition to renewable energy... We are shaking our fossil fuel addiction."